Italy as a country is not particularly big on breakfast. When I was an elbow-high Canadian expat growing up in Friuli, the adults would only ever have a caffe latte or maybe a cookie before heading out the door. Meanwhile, my nonna would offer to fix me a bowl of "Cheerios," a term she used for everything from corn flakes to cocoa-flavoured Rice Krispies.

Francesco D'urzo, part of the family behind Bugigattolo, corroborated my childhood memories.

"In Italy, your breakfast is a coffee, cappuccino, croissant - out," he says. But that hasn't stopped the shabby-chic spot in Liberty Village from turning Italian staples into the brunch dishes they were always, secretly, truly meant to be.